Curved Air: Explore Igor Stravinsky (12/30)

Twentieth-century giant Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) is perhaps best-known for his 1913 ballet ‘Le Sacre Du Printemps’ (The Rite Of Spring). No one had ever composed something so noisy and chaotic and downright loud. The percussion-heavy orchestra plays polyrhythms on top of polyrhythms, and was only the beginning of Stravinsky’s exploration of polytonality. The premiere performance caused such an uproar in the audience that dancers couldn’t hear the music, audience members screamed and threw things, and the crew backstage feared for their lives. It was a legendary night, and the young Stravinsky definitely made an impression on the musical world, but he wrote an awful lot more than that. He was one of the first European composers to embrace and love jazz and ragtime, and is reflected in some of his pieces like ‘Ragtime for 11 Instruments’ and ‘Ebony Concerto’ (composed for and performed by Benny Goodman). Let us examine highlights of his diverse and prolific career.